Dipping a toe into the eBook waters

Librarians often get asked if we think eBooks will ever replace print books. My short answer to that question is, I hope not! Although I do believe that print reference books and many periodicals will probably dwindle away, I don't think all print books will disappear in the near future. While I personally prefer print books for pleasure reading, I definitely embrace the option to read books in a variety of formats. For example, I love audiobooks during my daily commute, and when I travel, it's great to tote along an eReader rather than a collection of heavy books. When I find myself at a meeting or with an unexpected period of waiting time, it's great to have my Kindle Fire handy with books, apps, and the Web at my fingertips. As a teacher librarian, I have a digital bookshelf (Follett Shelf) of reference books available online for my students so they can use them for research 24/7, from any computer.

So in an effort to provide my students with a greater opportunity to explore books in all formats, I decided this year to dedicate a portion of our library budget to eBooks, both on the Follett Shelf and through the purchase of Nook eReaders loaded with over 175 books each.

My reasons for purchasing eReaders and eBooks for my library include:

1. Exposing students to new reading formats,
2. Giving them the opportunity to test out an eReader if they don't have one of their own,
3. Encouraging my digital native students to read more,
4. Providing new books to my students in a more timely manner, as soon as they are released, and
5. Providing better reading oppportunites for students with learning challenges, with features such as text-to-speech, a built-in dictionary, and the ability to change font sizes.

My reasons for hesitating to purchase eReaders are equally valid. The devices and books are expensive - will students even read them? Will the eReaders get lost or stolen? If that happens, can my students afford to replace them? How do I manage the eBook collection with no way to accurately catalog the books? However, I decided that if I waited until all of these questions were answered, I would never have eBooks for my students. It was time for a beta test.

I purchased four Barnes and Noble Nook Simple Touch eReaders. I decided on the Nook becuase I can use a purchase order to buy books (rather than a credit card, which my purchasing department discouraged), and also because I can download each of my eBooks on up to six devices. The Simple Touch is inexpensive ($99 each), and cannot access websites on the Internet, so there are no CIPA concerns. For each device I ordered a screen protector, a sturdy rubber cover, and a multi-user protection plan through Barnes and Noble. Each device is barcoded and can be checked out as equipment through our library's online catalog. When a student wants to check out a Nook, they must sign a borrower's agreement, which we keep on file. Students can only check out a Nook if they have a clean borrowing record, and each device is be checked out for a two-week loan period. We update and charge the Nooks when they are returned. We don't send out the chargers with the Nooks, for fear we won't get them back, but our Barnes and Noble rep assured me that if the wireless access is turned off, the Nook will stay charged for a couple of weeks. We posted a list of our Nook eBooks in a GoogleDoc on our library website, which can be easily updated as new titles are added. I am in the process of adding a notation in the 500 field of the marc record for each print book for which we have a corresponding eBook, to let patrons searching our online catalog know that an eBook is available. So far, so good.

So, here's to dipping a toe into the eBook waters. The water feels great; come on in!

Advice to New School Librarians

This week I was asked to be a guest discussion host on the Syracuse iSchool's MLIS School Media intern seminar discussion boards, as an "early career librarian." It was fun to be back on the boards, just like old times in grad school at SU, talking with budding school librarians! This was from my initial post:

I am not just lucky to have A job, I’m lucky to have THIS job. I have the best job in the entire world! It is certainly challenging and frequently stressful, but I can nearly always pinpoint at least one moment in my day when I feel like I really helped someone learn something. Which is, after all, what it’s all about! As a school librarian, I get to know most of the students in our school. I can plan fun events, have engaging conversations about books, teach technology skills that students will carry with them to college or career, and work with amazing teachers to plan creative classroom units. I think it’s the challenge, the creativity, and the fact that I’m always learning something that I like most. Since I am always collaborating and co-teaching with classroom teachers, I am constantly exposed to not only different teaching and disciplinary styles (which, as a new teacher, is immensely helpful), but also new content.

The student interns were terrific, and brought up some excellent questions that I answered as well as I was able. The questions ranged from what to do if my library support staff doesn't support me, to how should I respond to interview questions, to how do I handle a tough job market, to how do you get parents and students involved with library events?

Particularly difficult to answer was the questions of librarians' APPRs and how we should prepare. From what I can gather from recent BOCES School-Based Inquiry Team turnkey trainings, School Library System workshops, and just talking to people in the know, there isn't a good answer yet. The NYS Education Department has not yet accepted an APPR template specifically for librarians, although we can use them for local assessment portion of our evaluation. We will definitely be expected to be evaluated under APPR this next year, however. Each school district has the discretion to decide how to proceed, so there is no one over-reaching answer to the question except talk to your administrators and union reps to see what is planned in your own district. I think most of us have no problem being evaluated as a teacher. I feel that if I am doing my job well, I should have no reason to be concerned about my evaluation. It's being evaluated based on test scores that we have no direct ability to influence that concerns most school librarians and other professionals in non-testing areas (guidance counselors, nurses, gym teachers, etc). This is unfolding rapidly so keep yourself informed! There's a great (albeit depressing) article in the Washington Post about students and testing that will put things into perspective.

Thank you to Dr. Renee Franklin and the iSchool Schmedia interns for a great week! I'm no  library expert by any means, but I am always happy to share my experiences for what it's worth.

In Cold Blood, Part I

We are in the middle of a fun and creative project involving Truman Capote's classic novel, In Cold Blood. The brainchild of teachers Danielle Keating and Stacy Maguire, the project is a collaboration between two 10th grade ELA classes, three Forensics Science classes, and me, the school librarian. The classes are researching and re-creating the crime and then the trial from the book. As an interesting twist, the forensics classes are allowed to use modern-day analytical techniques and the trial lawyers are allowed to devise alternate defense strategies using current Kansas law for the trial.

The following are the instructional roles for the project:

• ELA Classes – Read book, research and recreate crime scene, participate in crime scene as accused murderers and victims, participate in trial as witnesses, attorneys for the defense and other characters.
• Core group of Forensics Science students (volunteers) – Process and analyze crime scene and evidence, research trial, participate in trial as prosecutors and key witnesses for the prosecution.
• Three Forensics Science classes (11^th and 12^th graders) –  Research the case, participate in trial as audience, jury, and paralegal assistants as needed.
• Classroom Teachers - Familiarize classes with the book and forensics techniques. Work with students to research and recreate crime scene and trial. Guide students via online collaboration and classroom teaching.
• Librarian: Assist both groups with researching crime scene and trial details. Post online resources for groups and teachers to use. Act as go-between to coordinate groups.

Both classes are using Wiggio, an online collaboration tool, to share links and information about the trial in their separate groups. I am also using a wiki to post links and information about the project for all of the groups to share. It has been extremely helpful to have the library (and the librarian!) serve as the common link between the classes, to facilitate the project, as it is difficult to manage schedules between busy teachers, students, and classes that don't happen at the same time. The core group of Forensics students are volunteers that happen to have a study hall during one of the class periods when the ELA students meet, but who are getting class credit for working on this project. I also  meet with the classroom teachers on a regular basis during planning periods, lunch, or after school to coordinate the project.

So far we have staged and processed the crime scene, collected evidence from two differnt crime scenes, and "arrested" the suspects. The trial is scheduled for late April, so I'll post more information in a future blog post. At this stage I can report that the students are excited and highly engaged in the project! They appreciate the project-based learning opportunity, and are looking forward to the trial. We are pretty sure that many of them are underestimating the amount of preparation the trial will require, but that will be a teachable moment in itself. Oh, and did I mention that this project meets a slew of Common Core standards?